The principal at Flanagan Grade School got a large surprise Thursday afternoon to the tune of $1,000.

Principal Derek Sieg said that Rocky Patel, who shared a $1 million-winning Powerball ticket with Bob Baker, brought in a letter of appreciation to the school and the check after discussing the decision with Bart’s Supermarket owner and cousin, Shalin Patel.

“He had a nice letter that they wanted to make a donation from the store to the school and he said how much they appreciated the community and the people in it and had the check with it,” Sieg explained. “There was no forewarning at all. He just walked in and said they really wanted to do it.”

Both Patels had said during the check presentation ceremony Thursday afternoon in Flanagan that it was their intention to donate money to the school, as both of Rocky Patel’s children and one of Shalin Patel’s children attend classes there.

“There’s been some excitement,” Sieg said. “We’ve kept it a little quiet around the school, but the word is getting out.”

The news is still new and school officials haven’t made any decisions as to how the money will be spent.

“We’ve got some ideas on some things but we’ll take a little bit of time and make sure it’s used wisely and in a good way for our students,” the principal explained.

Sieg says the donation is appreciated and sees it as the “icing on the cake” of all the electricity going through the little Livingston County village.

“It’s hard to describe the community feeling and atmosphere we have here and that was just the icing on the cake for the whole thing for us as far as having someone in the community win the award last week from the Powerball and being willing to share that,” Sieg said. “Really, Rocky’s point was that they get great support from people in the school and the people in the community and this is their way of saying thank you and giving back and letting them know how much they appreciate them.”

Rocky Patel and Bob Baker split the $1 million prize ticket, both receiving approximately $350,000 after taxes after their ticket matched five numbers, shy of the Powerball. Bart’s Supermarket received a $10,000 commission for selling the prize-winning ticket.